Quick-change hook



May 15, 1951 D. CONNER QUICK CHANGE HOOK Filed Dec. 14, 1946 \NvaN'ro Dav/av L. Con NE 351 gum My ATTORNEYS Patented May 15, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to a quick change hook structure by means of which hooks, from which work is suspended and is carried along by a conveyor, may be replaced whenever desired by other hooks of different dimensions and designs to hold and suspend special work which the first type of hook does not properly handle.

As an example, in the spray painting of many articles, a conveyor mov s the articles suspended in spa"ed succession in the length of the conveyor in a predetermined direction of movement, and during such movement the paint or other finishing material is sprayed upon the articles. A very great many articles thus processed can be carried by a standard design of holding hook, but other articles which the standard hook will not properly take care of, require specially designed hooks for them. One of the purposes of the present invention is the production of simple and effective means for interchange of the hooks needed whenever required.

In the spray painting or other equivalent spraying of covering material upon articles to be thus treated, which are vertically suspended from hooks carried by a conveyor chain, it is desirable that the articles be automatically turned about a vertical aXis as their movement in the direction taken by the conveyor takes place so as to present all sides and surfaces of the article to the spray guns to receive the material sprayed. Further in some cases, such turning should take place automatically at predetermin d intervals of time in the conveyor movement, the time varying in accordance to the articles thus sprayed. Therefore, a further object and purpose of the invention is to equip a quick change hook structure with novel and very effective means to accomplish such automatic turning at the times when needed and to hold them against aimless or accidental movement between the stations or points of turning. Such means is available for use with any or all of the difierent types of hooks which may be interchangeably used. Of course, the invention further contemplates a change hook structure which permits a substantially continuous turning of the article sprayed about a vertical axis as well as a periodic or intermittent turning.

An understanding of the invention may be had from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating an application in use of my invention with an endless chain conveyor.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section, enlarged, of the quick change hook structure, substantially on the plane of line 22 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a some hat enlarged side elevation of the quick change hook structure.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows in perspective the several parts of the structure in disassembled, separated relation.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawings.

In Fig. l, a portion of the length of a conveyor chain l is shown to which, at spaced intervals, roller carriages Z are' connected to ride upon a channel track 3, thereby maintaining the run of the conveyor chain below it against sagging. Each of said carriages has a downwardly extending arm connected with a pivot which in turn connects adjacent links of the chain together. v

A pair of vertical bars! at their upper ends are connected with the same chain link pivot to which the carriage 2 is connected, extending downwardly therefrom and at their lower ends passing between the upwardly extending sides of a stirrup member of fiat metal having a horizontal bottom 5 and upwardly extending sides 6. Through the lower ends of the bars 4 and the upper portions of the sides, a pin 1 is passed, best shown in Fig. 3, to connect the parts together. The lower side 5 of the stirrup member has a circular opening 8 through it (Fig; 5).

A hook 9, preferably of fiat form, has a vertically extending shank l0, likewise flat, which passes upwardly through the opening 8 and may be turned freely therein about a vertical axis. As shown in Fig. 5, a star wheel H having a plurality of equally spaced outwardly extending radial arms is provided with a central opening of a shape such that the shank end I U of the hook 9 may pass therethrough until the star wheel at its lower side rests upon the hook.

At the upper side of said lower part 5 of the stirrup member, a square plate l2, with a circular opening 13 therethrough, may be placed over the shank It]. It is held from rotation by two of its opposite edges being located in substantially parallelism to and in close proximity with the sides 6. Said plate I2 is formed with a plurality of radially disposed downwardly pressed ribs at its lower side and with complementary grooves M at its upper side as shown. Above the. plate I? a circular plate or disk I5 is positioned having an opening l6 through it for the passage ga n h rsa ains the hook is ment l bout t a any of the shank ill of approximately the same rectangular shape and dimensions as the cross section of said shank. Similarly to the plate i2 it has a plurality of radial downwardly spaced ribs being adapted to seat in the grooves I4 of the lower plate I2. Any turning of the hook 9 about a vertical axis requires an accompanying turning of the plate I5 while the plate [2 is held against movement.

The shank 10' at a point above the upper surface of the plate I5 when the parts are assembled has a rectangular opening for the passage of a short bar l8 rectangular in cross section, B ar 18 is notched at one end and adjacent the other end has wire rings I9 as shownlconnected with and extending theretl'irough After passage through the transverse opening in theshank- I'll, said rings 9 may be swung over the upper end of the shank and seated in the notched end of the ba t its. 2

he rem v l o the bar 68 t a y m d s re and the quick disassembly and reassembly of the severalparts is readily accomplished at any time desired. The reassembly will be with a diiierent h 5- a i e a sh nk iden sal i h nk fi- This permits the use of the desired hooks,

s ndard or oth rw s i c n c ion, with the rt c es which et-Q be su ended there o ln practice the arms of the star wheel 1!, in

t e move ent o he chain a e br u ht in sucsession tQ s a e a t xed isst o an nt -r s au a vertical axis, This requires a sle t sns th dpw ward e end ibs oi the plate l5 from the grooves M in the plate 1'? unde n ath n a i 'the rawin t r a foilr uns on t e tar heel. a k u ber of ri s and ep es o s he lat 3 and i an rn h ou h an. e o n n e rees tak place at the end of each turning movement, Ac-

idsntal Qth w s hqs red ur in unt h ne t qieq o is rea hed by the sta el i P e ente It is to be understood that the star wheel is ii itsd 9 f u ar s n h numb r o r d a ribs and depressions, at H! to IT, to four; but variation of the number of star wheel arms Will be matched by us variation in the number of such cooperating ribs and grooves.

'In those cases where a continuous rotation of the hook is desired whilerthe conveyor chain is continuously moving, the star wheel may be replacedby a gear or pinion meshing with a horizontal'rack at one side, in which case the plates [2 and IE will be flat with no ribs or grooves therein. Of course, if no rotation of the work,

either periodically or continuously, is wanted, a

star wheel or pinion will not be used but instead a flat circular plate.

The construction described is very practical and useful. It is economical to produce and of a sturdy and durable character.

The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a structure as described, a stirrup member having a horizontal bottom with a circular opening therethrough and spaced vertical sides, a hook member having a flat shank extending through said opening and turnable therein about a. vertical axis, means for releasably connecting said shank with the stirrup member, a, rectangular plate non-rotatably located upon said hori zontal bottom of the stirrup and between said vertical sides and having a round central opentherethrough of substantially the same diameter as the opening through said bottom of the stirrup member and formed with a plurality of spaced radially extending grooves at its upper side, and a second circular plate located above the first plate having an opening shaped for the passage of said flat shank whereby said second plate and shank are movable together, said second plate having at its lower side a plurality of spaced radially extending ribs adapted to enter the grooves in the first mentioned plate.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1 said means for releasably connecting the shank comprising, an opening through saidshank, a horizontalbar member to pass through said opening and means connected to the bar member at one end and releasably engageable therewith at its other end.

3. A structure as def ned in claim 1, said means for releasably connecting said shank comprising, an opening through said shank, a bar member extending through said opening above the bottom of the stirrup, a notch in one end of said bar member and a retaining ring pivoted to the other end of the bar member and adapted to snap into said notch.

DEWEY L. CONNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the f le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,645,714 Neilson Oct. 18, 1927 1,371,608 Hallinan Aug. 16, 1932 1,930,607 Brown Oct. 17, 1933 2,471,347 Rayburn May 24, 1949 

